No request too small

When I was younger, I wasn’t sure what I could pray about. As a child, I really didn’t have any needs. My family was as functional as it could be, not perfect but operative. We had food. We had clothes. I was getting an education and receiving enough attention. So I never really prayed for myself very often, mainly because I thought it was selfish. I would pray for other people, but I always tried to pray for big requests.

 

When I was a child the first Desert Storm was in process, and I remember praying for the soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait. That was a big prayer request, so it seemed normal and right to pray for something to big.

 

And that kind of carried over into my adolescent years because even though there were things I wanted or needed help with, I didn’t know if I should really pray about those things. I mean, God’s a busy guy. Did He really have time to deal with my silly, inconsequential prayer requests like helping me pass a test or helping me find my keys? Those sorts of requests didn’t help anyone but me, so would he even listen if I asked for myself?

Little purple flower - San Francisco, Peten, Guatemala

 Today’s verse is Philippians 4:6.

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

See that word everything? Well, it actually means everything. It doesn’t mean just big requests. It doesn’t mean just requests for other people. It doesn’t mean just world-changing types of requests. It means everything that worries you, everything you need, everything you’re scared of. Everything.

Even if it’s a small request to help you remember where you put your keys, God wants to help us.

I used to get caught up in the idea that God was so big and so mighty that He couldn’t possibly care about what went on in our everyday lives. I mean, I knew He loved us. But I figured it was a distant kind of love, the kind of love and appreciation a boss might have for his or her employees. But that’s not it at all.

The love God has for us is personal and intimate and all-encompassing. He wants to be a part of our daily lives, even in the inconsequential things. And He loves us enough to listen to everything we have to say.

And I’m glad. Because I misplace my keys a lot. And being able to ask Him to help me remember what on earth I did with them is a comfort, and every time I ask Him for help, He does. I can run like a maniac around the house looking for my keys, and then when I stop and pray about it, I find my keys straightaway.

There’s no request too small for God. Just like there’s no request too big for Him. But what I’ve learned throughout all these years of following Jesus is that the small requests are often answered sooner. The big requests usually take a little more time because more people are involved or because they will have an impact on history or culture. But, to me, it’s the answers to small requests that make the difference. Because if God cares enough to answer a small prayer over and over again, it shows me how much He loves me. It shows me that I can trust Him.

And once I know that He loves me and that He’s not going to let me down, I’m not afraid of anything anymore.